ALISON HEALY
THERE WILL be a lord dressed as a toucan. There will be a man on crutches hoping to set a new world record. And of course there will be agony and ecstasy because it is a marathon after all.
At 9am this morning, when many of us are thinking about tucking into a leisurely bank holiday fry-up, the Lifestyle Sports-Adidas Dublin Marathon will get under way. In a record entry for the race, some 11,700 pairs of legs will pound their way around the streets of Dublin.
As though the race was not a big enough challenge, Lord Iveagh, Arthur Edward Guinness, will run the marathon dressed as the famous Guinness toucan to raise funds for the charitable Iveagh Trust.
Limerick man Simon Baker will attempt to set a new world record for the fastest marathon on crutches. He lost his right leg below the knee four years ago and when his prosthetic limb got damaged during training he decided to do the marathon on crutches. He's in for a long haul as the current record for doing a marathon on crutches is seven hours and 13 minutes.
Sports enthusiasts will notice some famous faces on the streets when Tyrone's Peter Canavan
and Galway hurler Alan Kerins glide by, having exchanged
their GAA boots for running shoes.
The late Noel Carroll, co-founder of the Dublin marathon, will be remembered when his children Noel, Stephen, Nicola and Enda run the race to mark the 10th anniversary of his death. They will also be raising funds for Goal's Noel Carroll Building in Calcutta.
Mary Hickey Nolan is the only woman to have run in all Dublin marathons to date and she will line up for her 29th race this morning.
More women than ever will run this year's race, with women making up one-third of the field. Most of them probably won't be rubbing shoulders with Alina Ivanova, last year's women's winner from Russia.
Ivanova will be going for a three-in-a-row today but her fellow countrywoman Larissa Zousko finished second last year and will be hoping to better that today.
Ireland's best female hopes lie with mini-marathon winner Annette Kealy and Maria McCambridge, who makes her marathon debut.
The men's current title holder Alexsey Sokolov is not lining out this year but Ukranian Dmytro Osadchy has been tipped, as well as Britain's Tomas Abyu.
Gary Crossan, Chris Cariss and Pauric McKinney are expected to provide Irish excitement in the race.
There has been a major increase in Irish runners in this year's marathon. In recent years over half the field has come from overseas but Irish runners make up 57 per cent of this year's entrants.
To ensure that the event runs smoothly, 800 stewards will be on duty along the 26.2-mile route.
Traffic diversions will be in place with major restrictions on Merrion Square, Nassau Street and St Stephen's Green. The race starts on Fitzwilliam Square East and finishes on Merrion Square West.
For more information on road closures and traffic diversions, see www.aaroadwatch.ie/events or www.dublinmarathon.ie
...
Results of marathon available at irishtimes.com from noon